


Fur & Fang

by moonblossom



Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Domestic, Fluff, Kitten, Love, M/M, Pet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-22
Updated: 2014-05-22
Packaged: 2018-01-26 01:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1669994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonblossom/pseuds/moonblossom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been quite a while since Smith & Wesson left, maybe there's room for another feline in Zane and Ty's lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fur & Fang

The familiar, pitiful little sound caught Zane's attention while he was out jogging; somewhere between a meow and a whine. He stopped, bending down and resting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. The noise came again, and Zane cocked his head, trying to find the source. It was coming from underneath a hedge. Despite his better judgement, he went to investigate.

The kitten was still as messy as it had been the previous mornings, scrappy and barely the size of Zane's hand. It was mottled, dark grey with some white fur and some that was a very pale orange. Its eyes were green, almost the colour of a kiwifruit, but clear and alert. 

Quickly but efficiently, he poked through the rest of the hedge searching for evidence of the kitten's mother or siblings again, as he had every day since seeing the kitten for the first time. Still finding nothing resembling a family, he sighed and squatted down.

He held his fingers out and it shambled up and sniffed him, looking hopeful.

"I don't have any food, little one. Not with me, anyway."

Zane stared at the kitten for a moment. There was certainly no harm in taking the poor thing home and giving it something to eat, was there? As he was debating it, the kitten sneezed all over his finger. Groaning, he shook his hand and wiped it off on his shorts. Maybe he'd be best off just leaving it here.

As Zane closed his eyes, the image of Ty's face, grinning with genuine, childlike pleasure as he played with the damned kitten invaded his mind. He sighed, admitting to himself that he was a lost cause and he'd never really intended to leave the poor thing behind this time.

Awkwardly, he scooped the kitten up and it yowled grumpily, more for show than anything. The sound made Zane grin. Reminded him a bit of Ty, when he was trying to come off as more of a hard-ass than he actually was. The kitten squirmed and wriggled as Zane tried to remember the proper way to support it. Shrugging, he folded the bottom of his sweaty t-shirt up into a pocket and tucked the flailing bundle of fur into it before heading back to the house.

When he got back, he was relieved to hear the sounds of Ty in the shower upstairs. He made sure the little bundle was still hidden safely in his shirt, the kitten fidgeting sleepily against his side, as he picked up the phone and flipped through his speed-dial.

"Hello?" His sister's voice was calm and pleasant as she answered.

"Annie? It's Zane. Do you have a minute?"

The pause before her reply was tiny, but Zane picked up on it anyway. "Of course... what's up?"

"Nothing bad, I hope." Zane chuckled and then bit down a wince as the kitten's surprisingly sharp claws started kneading his hip bone. "Um..." Absentmindedly, he scratched it between the ears. He was actually starting to like the damned thing. "How do I tell if a kitten is healthy?"

Annie laughed, clearly delighted. "A kitten?! How old is it? Male or female? Where did you get it?"

"That's why I'm calling you, Anns. I have no idea. I've passed the damned thing three mornings in a row on my jog, and it looks pretty pathetic. And Ty..." He sighed, remembering how heartbroken Ty had looked when they came home to find Smith and Wesson gone so long ago, bloody hellions that they were.

"He does have a bit of a thing for cats," Annie said, and Zane could hear the smile in her voice.

"More like they have a thing for him." Zane huffed, one knuckle rubbing down the tiny length of the kitten's spine.

Annie laughed again. "You sound jealous!" She took a deep breath and plowed on before Zane could interrupt her. "Okay, so, how big is it? Does it look clean, is it wearing a collar, are its eyes clear and alert? What colour is it?"

Pausing to listen carefully, making sure Ty was still in the shower, Zane lifted the kitten out of the makeshift sling in his shirt. It nipped at his palm a bit and looked up at him, squinting in a way that would have been menacing on a larger animal. Its eyes were clear, still that striking green colour. The fur was short, smooth and neat, no obvious problems. He related his findings to his sister.

"And it's kind of lots of colours. Grey, with some white and kind of..." he stared at it again. "Can cats be peach, Annie? It's kind of peach." The kitten yawned, exposing teeth that were far too large for its tiny face.

"Sounds like a tortie then. Odds are _it_ is actually a _she_. Less than one in three thousand cats with colours like that are male, it's a chromosomal abnormality."

Zane cut her off before she got too involved in the biology and genetics of the damned thing as he tucked the kitten away again to keep it quiet. "Ok. She. Is she healthy? Is it safe to keep her in the house?"

"I can't really tell you over the phone, Zane. Your best bet would be to bring her to a vet before Ty gets attached. But it sounds like there's nothing obviously wrong with her. "

Zane squawked as the kitten sank her fangs into his abdomen, and he heard Annie trying to stifle a laugh on the other end of the phone.

"Thanks, sis. I appreciate the help." He extricated the fidgety lump from his shirt one last time and set her on the counter. He pointed a finger at her and mouthed _stay_ , as if she'd understand. She rolled onto her back and started licking herself in an inappropriate way and Zane sighed.

“No problem, Zane. And email me some photos, would you?"

He hung up smiling and went to find a small bowl. There was still a bag of cat food lying around from when Smith and Wesson were with them, but Zane wrote it off as stale and wondered why nobody had ever bothered to throw it out. He found some leftover chicken in the fridge and tore it into small chunks and plopped it onto the counter along with a dish full of water.

The kitten stared at him warily for a moment before sinking into the food, inhaling it at a rate that had Zane slightly worried. When was the last time she'd eaten?

He was so engrossed in staring at her that he hardly noticed Ty walking up behind him. He felt Ty's arms, warm and comforting, wrapping around his waist, felt Ty's nose snuffling around on the back of his neck.

"Mmm, sweaty."

"You're gross." Zane laughed as Ty inhaled deeply.

"And you love me for it. Who were you on the phone with?"

Zane turned around in Ty's arms, his body shielding the kitten. "Annie. I had a question."

Ty leaned back, staring at Zane's face. "What about?"

He couldn't contain himself any longer; he bit his lip and leaned to one side, giving Ty a view of the counter.

"What... where... what?" Ty's eyes widened, a ridiculous grin spreading across his face, and Zane kissed his temple impulsively.

"Well, I know she's no tiger, but the house has been kind of quiet lately."

"You bought a cat?" Ty asked, barely sparing a sideways glance for Zane before drawing his eyes back to the kitten, who was now purring intently while licking the bottom of the food dish. She looked up and mewled contentedly before clambering over the dish and running straight to Ty. Traitor.

"Not bought, no. I've seen her the past few mornings when I go for a run. Figured after this long if she was still alone, she'd been abandoned." For a moment, Zane wondered if the fact that she was a foundling would diminish Ty's excitement. It's not as if he'd gone out and bought her as a gift or anything.

Instead, the light in Ty's eyes got even brighter. "You _saved_ a cat." He cupped his hands and she crawled into them, curling up in a tiny ball. Zane could hear her contented purr from over Ty's shoulder. One day, maybe they'd find a feline of some sort who didn't fall hopelessly in love with Ty at first sight, but that day was clearly not today.

"Is it..."

"She," Zane corrected gently.

"What, you're an expert on cat junk now?"

"Annie told me that those colours almost always mean female. I mean, we should still take her to a vet, but she sounds better than it, right?"

"She needs a name. I mean, if..." For a moment, Ty looked hopeful, innocent, and ten years younger. "If she can stay?" Zane's heart throbbed. God, he loved this man so much.

"Of course. We'll find a vet and stuff, but... yeah. We've still got Cross's beasts' litter pan somewhere, I think. But for now, you're right, she needs a name."

Ty rubbed her behind the ears, still smiling, and Zane reached over to try to pat her. She puffed up irritably, but consented to having her neck scratched.

"Mauser?" Zane suggested, smirking. Not that they had a rodent problem, but still...

Ty rolled his eyes. "No. Absolutely not. No puns. And if we're naming her after a gun, we're naming her after a good solid American one, damn it."

Zane smiled fondly. Ty's patriotism sure showed itself in some very odd ways sometimes. 

"How about Sarah then, after the Winchester widow?"

"Didn't she go crazy and build some huge house for poltergeists? I don't want my cat dealing with ghost-baggage."

Zane rubbed the back of Ty's neck, grinning in amusement. "Why am I not surprised you know about that place. So what's your suggestion then?"

Ty cocked his head to the side, lowering her down onto the counter and studying her for a moment. She stood up and stretched, gangly legs splaying out awkwardly on the smooth surface. She scrambled and righted herself, looking for all the world like a newborn pony. Ty laughed, and Zane felt it reverberating through his chest.

"Colt?" Clearly Ty had seen the similarity too, despite his repeated insistence that he hated horses. Zane kissed his shoulder and nodded.

"Colt." He nodded in agreement.

She cocked her head, looking at them both as if she'd understood. She mewled again, sticking her front paws in the now-empty bowl.

"I know you're hungry, but you've gotta pace yourself," Ty cooed at her. He'd have denied it if Zane had pointed it out, but he was most definitely cooing. Zane's chest was suffused with a soft warmth that had nothing at all to do with his morning jog, and he couldn't hide the stupid grin on his face. It was almost as wide as the stupid grin on Ty's face.

Finally, Ty broke eye contact with Colt and turned to Zane again. He reached up, cupping Zane's cheek in his hand, and Zane sighed softly, leaning into the touch.

"Thank you, you big softie."

Zane huffed. "You're the one cooing at her."

"Shut up, and let me show you how grateful I am," Ty's voice rumbled with teasing promise, and Zane groaned wistfully.

Colt let out an irritated snorting noise, as if she were mortally offended by suddenly not being the centre of attention.

"Later. Right now we need to find her a litter pan and call a vet."

Playfully, Ty squeezed Zane's hip before turning his attention back to the demanding little ball of fluff.

"Later then, and I'm holding you to it."

Zane kissed the back of Ty's neck, just behind his ear. "You're welcome."

**Author's Note:**

> I've finally got a temporary replacement keyboard, and it feels so good to be writing again!
> 
> Colt is shamelessly modelled after my own dear [Catou](http://moonblossom.tumblr.com/post/72913260180/behold-the-catou-in-her-native-habitat-by-which). However, Catou is far more well-fed than Colt is ;)


End file.
